I'm kind of saddened by how fast my fandom world is shrinking...feels like the "current shows" section of my profile gets more misleading by the week. It's like, I can say with absolutely certainty that I watch Survivor, Lost, The Office, Medium, and Numb3rs whenever they're new. Everything else? WHO KNOWS. It is just so much easier to push them all out of sight and ignore them. And/or watch random reruns I won't feel compelled to talk about instead (you know what's a surprisingly hilarious show? My Name Is Earl.)

HIMYM I haven't seen since episode 100. NCIS I got so bored with last week that I walked away after 7 minutes - and frankly, my anticipation for Lost on Tuesdays may well swallow up whatever patience I had left for that thing. Bones would be one I catch, but that's out until April; I have no idea what's going to happen with Glee when they come back together (with the show in hiatus, my fandom interest has plummeted to zero? Needs media hype at all times), and I don't even know when Law & Order: SVU will be new again.

Ghost Whisperer I'm two episodes behind because my feverish Numb3rs anticipation would only let me handle one exciting show a night. Grey's Anatomy/Private Practice got unofficially booted in November, and the 4 or 5 remaining shows (House, CSI x2 or 3, Cold Case) aren't even in contention anymore; it's like, will I ever see them? And new shows? Hah! Don't make me laugh.

*abrupt topic change* I just wanted to get that out there. At any rate, here are the two things left in my mini-backlog.

The Office, "Manager and Salesman"What is this? Is season 6 back to its ways of being remarkably better than season 5, as the pattern states it should be? Yes. Yes it is.

-JO HAS GREAT DANES. TWO OF THEM. THAT SHE BRINGS TO WORK. I love her even more than Charles now.

-Memo to everyone in the office: anyone who failed to pet the dogs while they were there just lost one hundred points on my approval scale. Andy, on the other hand, gained ten.

-As charming and endearing as I find Gabe the Manservant, there's also something about the slightly creepy way he slouches and tucks his hands into his sides that reminds me of a Dickens character. Possibly Uriah Heep.

-I loved Erin's shirt, and I hate myself a little for it. It's like they are designing the character to simultaneously infuriate me at every turn, and yet reflect EVERYTHING I WANT OUT OF LIFE. Thank God her hair's still short.

-Pooh, it's hard to ignore the antics of Erin & Andy when it nets Kelly screen time. (Bizarre fact: I think Kelly and Ryan each got more screen time than Pam did this week.)

-Wait, is that the end of Bobcat and Dragon's Adventures in Diabolical Planning? Cheap! I demand webisodes. Or a spin-off. Fanfic will suffice.

-"With all due respect for this job, I'm definitely in it for the money." Oh, Jim, never change. Furthermore, to be honest, the pay cut was what made me saddest about the title scenario, so I'm glad it all worked out both swiftly and well.

-And with that, Jim sheds his Jacket of Management, dunks Dwight's tie in coffee, and knows: it's good not to be the boss.

-Question: what's going to happen to Jim's old office now? Do you think they'll find a practical use for it, or will it quietly dissolve in the night as mysteriously as it appeared? My money is on the latter.

In retrospect, I don't really know why I loved this one so much, it all just seemed quite pleasant and inoffensive. Which, for The Office, is quite a feat.

Up next: I will destroy every expectation I could possibly have for the baby episode, so hopefully it will not disappoint me like the wedding did.

Survivor: Heroes vs. VillainsMy initial reaction to the cast: OH GOD NO WHAT IS THIS HORROR, I do not care which nice people you brought back; neither Stephen nor Bob nor Ian is among them and therefore NOTHING ON THIS EARTH CAN MAKE UP FOR THE COMBINED HELL OF SEVERAL OF THE MOST AWFUL PEOPLE I HAVE EVER SEEN ON ANY REALITY SHOW, EVER.

My in-depth reactions:VILLAINSCoach: ...yeah, okay, fine, Samoa #1 drove me to it. I'm looking forward to him. Him and his Crazy Campfire stories. He's just so harmless and sweetly deluded. In retrospect. And in comparison to everyone else.Courtney: See, how is she really a villain? I think she is misplaced and will be the first to get eaten by her tribe. But I hope not, as I think I enjoy her snark. Also I want to see her take on Coach.?Danielle: Who? (edit: haha, she placed second? To Aras, which I KNOW is a season I watched at least some of? Damn, that's good invisibility.)Jerri: Yay! For some reason, I remember her being awesome in her evil ways. I mean, not Cirie levels of awesome, but enjoyable. Up to this point, you're probably wondering what I was squawking about. Let me fix that.--Parvati: NO. I HAD ENOUGH OF THIS HELLISH, SIMPERING SNAKE WHEN SHE WON.--Randy: NO. GROSS. WHY. AUGHHHHHHHHHH.--Boston Rob: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! God, the hatred for this bastard's smarmy "I'm so awesome" smugness. It'd be one thing if he was at least hot, but he's mostly just skanky, and...it's like, the only scale I can even measure it on is the one where I measure my hatred for...--Russell (Grossell): ...this guy. ()%&(*%&#(*%#%##%%#(&%)#*(%#?Sandra: Who?--Tyson: *spits* Freak.

HEROESAmanda: Once upon a time, I adored her! Now I am tired of her. Plain, flat-out bored. Still better that the other tribe, though.+Candice: Adorable! And strong, with a super-fit body. Delighted to have her back.+Cirie: BEST! Best, best, best.+Colby: Awesome! I don't remember much about him from way back in Australia, but I am buying into the media hype that he is an awesome and likable guy, because he strikes me that way too. I...may or may not be basing some of this on how much I love Colby Granger - yes, the character - on "Numb3rs." They seem similar in ways beyond their name.

James: See "Amanda." I think I adored him at first, but then he steadily wore away at my patience. For reasons I can't recall.+JT: OTHER BEST! Seriously, this almost makes up for Grossell. Not quite as good as Stephen, but nearly so.Rupert: Okay, why does TWoP have such a hate-on for him? Like, my entire Survivor-recap-readin' life, no matter where I go on the boards, people reference his name with loathing and disgust. I assumed he must have been the most horrible bastard in the history of the show. Then I watched "Surviving Survivor," and am just utterly baffled. He seems delightful!

-Stephenie: Nyyyyerh! Fiiiiiiee! Why is she a hero? Have you looked at her eyebrows? This is clear evil, right here. Swap her out! Why do people with my name always suck? Mostly what I remember about whichever season of hers I saw is that she specifically drove me away from it on the rare occasion I did watch. [edit: until she was gone. Because apparently that was Palau, and I loved the end of that season like whoa)+Sugar: Woo-HOO! Oh my God, I love her to pieces, she is the most adorable thing ever. Lovable like whoa. I want to be her friend in real life. +Tom: I remember Tom! I liked Tom, right? Not as much as I loved Ian and Katie, but he was a fine and dandy choice for winner.

Totals, by Percentage-Horrible: 30%. Hey, considering I thought it would be at least 50%, that's impressive.?Unknown: 10%Decent/tolerable: 30%+Awesome: 30%

Wow, that looks like a pretty even balance to start, except how does this shape up in practice? HORRIBLE, AWFUL WAYS THAT RESULT IN SUGAR GETTING BOOTED FIRST. GOD (*%#&*%(#&*(%# DAMMIT! I was pissed about any Hero going home first, just because I knew - as it did - that it would lead to Grossell rootin' and tootin' his own horn about how awesome and divinely blessed his tribe was, but why her? And why was the other option my other favorite, lovely Cirie?? When push comes to shove I'd rather save Cirie, but damn, that is a mean, mean choice. Also, like my one big consolation in Gabon was that Sugar outlasted Randy, so, %(*#&%()*#&%*(#%&*(#%&%#!!!

*blows off frustrated steam* Fine. Let's just go back and remember the time when Sugar was awesome and didn't let her lack of a top stop her for half a second from scoring a point for her team and helping to nail reward. Complete with middle fingers. SUGAR, YOU ARE THE BEST! I don't care what anyone says, as far as personality goes I like her even more than JT.

Plus, I got to see her cry, and remembered that that's another reason I identify with her. And for the record, getting beaten by Coach is not what makes me question Colby's manliness - it's not wanting to cuddle with Sugar. Even I want to cuddle with Sugar. Colby: kind of a blowhard so far. Not cool!

On the bright side, Rupert is still pretty endearing. He is Pirate Bear Grizzly, and I just want to go "awww" every time he appears. Amanda & James are both on my good side, for now. Even Parvati can get in there, as long as she's planning to dupe Russell.

As for the mysterious unknowns...this Sandra person, despite unhooking Sugar's bra, she is sort of entertaining! So far. Possibly I just love her accent. Danielle, on the other hand, is not doing a whole lot for me, and I'd be totally cool with kicking her out...somewhere in the middle, once we have rid that tribe of all its hideous horribleness.

Am definitely not liking the Tom/Stephenie team-up. That's less than useful. Also, JT? I don't care who you team up with, because I am sure you will not win the million again and I will be devastated when you are inevitably voted out, but all I ask is that you last longer than Grossell. And don't ever, ever trust him like you trusted Stephen. Burn him in paranoia like you burned Brendan! If he lasts that long, I mean, and hopefully he won't. Also, still mildly pissed at you for flaunting your animal-killing skills right on camera like that. Up to now I'd conveniently blocked out the part where death is an implicit part of "cattle ranching."

One bright spot to having all these HORRIBLE PEOPLE is that Grossell can't hog all the screen time. I'm pleased to report that I actually came away from the 2 hours with the oddest sense of peace - peace that comes only from realizing that I haven't seen nearly as much of the squat little troll as I thought I would. And if I have to watch them drum up a vomit-inducing showmance between Coach and Jerri to take the spotlight off him, well, that is an admission price I will happily pay.

Some of the peace comes from watching him crow about how he's the best Survivor player OF ALL TIME!!, and juxtaposing that with his tears of rage at the reunion show which imply that he is not, in fact, anywhere close to that, and it's only a matter of time until he knows it. I'm this close to looking up spoilers for when he'll get booted, except I don't want to know who's in the finals and I also don't want to know if it takes place after the merge; I want to believe that his ouster might be imminent at every turn. I was deprived of this hope last season, and I want it back.

Despite the disappointing vote outcome, overall we're off to a much stronger start than the last outing in Samoa. Things are far more entertaining. I even sat through Tribal Council! Still don't think we need three-peaters, but maybe there's something to be said for familiar faces. The ones who are not godawful, I mean.

Question: what's going to happen to Jim's old office now? Do you think they'll find a practical use for it, or will it quietly dissolve in the night as mysteriously as it appeared? My money is on the latter.

LOL, I know. I have been watching older episodes lately to try to see that office and no dice.